About snacks?

[SummerDays2020]

I always hear this idea that people nowadays can't go long without eating/eat too many snacks.

I find that a bit strange because growing up my mum always made 'elevenses' in the morning and 'tea' (as in sandwiches, cakes etc) in the afternoon alongside 3 meals a day. My grandparents had supper too.

None of us were/are overweight. I don't have snacks in the day, myself everyday but I do sometimes if I'm hungry in the afternoon.

In my opinion it is the quality of food that is important (it was all fresh home made food) and maybe the portion size too.

It was Hobbit-levels of meal frequency

^

Anyone else hearing 'second breakfast' in Broad Scots

Something like a kit kat and a juice carton at midmorning break at Primary school was definitely normal in the 90s. I'm too young/old for school milk though (my brother got it though, two years older than me)

And a cup of tea and a little bun after school. (Homemade, a 3egg recipe made 20 and thin smear of water icing).

@Chely

The bad thing with grazing is you build insulin resistance increasing your risk of diabetes. The human body is great at fasting and feasting.

I completely agree with this. Our bodies need time to not be digesting and to repair. I think we had that as we never ate evening snacks.

@Gonnagetgoing

I can't recall snacks as such at school, we just had breakfast, lunch, then dinner. I think we had something when we got home from school at about 3.30pm and then dinner wasn't until 7 or 8. So we'd have something like cake/biscuits etc. As a teenager probably similar but we'd get things like crisps, chocolate bar at breaks and also after school.

During holidays and at weekends we had sometimes biscuits or cake at 11 (elevenses) but not always. We also had something usually in the afternoon or before dinner but not always. Fruit/biscuits etc. If we saw a relative it'd be cake/snack etc.

We played out a lot and often didn't bother about snacks but that's not to say we didn't have any. I recall e.g. going to a big park that had an adventure playground, we had a picnic lunch, were allowed one or two ice creams and if we came out of the playground I'm sure we could eat whatever was left over (if anything) from the picnic. Thing is - though there were water fountains I don't recall us drinking more or eating more. We could quite easily go to e.g. a seaside town like Hastings and after having lunch could spend all afternoon playing and we had money for e.g. hot donuts or chocolate but i honestly don't recall buying loads! I mean we bought sweets from an old fashioned sweet shop but not to gorge on them!

I remember when I was quite small probably infant school age, my dad would take us to the sweet shop at the weekend. We would get a small amount of penny sweets and then we were allowed one each evening after dinner. I have to say when my DC get sweets they often come in very large packets and they might eat quite a lot in one go. They don't get sweets every week, though. It is a now and again thing.

@incognitoforthisone

Weirdly, I was discussing this exact thing with my parents, who are both c.80 years old, at the weekend.

They both said that their families (working class Londoners) definitely considered it normal to have a mid-morning snack and a mid-afternoon one when they were younger. So when my nan was a housewife she stopped for a cuppa and maybe a couple of biscuits or an apple mid-morning, and then she'd have a slice of bread and jam or a rock cake or something with her children when they got in from school. My parents both say they used to be able to buy a bun or something during their morning break at school. And if you worked in an office or a factory, there'd usually be a tea lady who came round morning and afternoon with a tea urn and some basic snack items.

However, what both my parents say they never really did was a) snack while watching television or listening to the radio, b) buy a chocolate bar and eat it while walking down the street, c) have a stock of snacks just sitting there to be eaten at any time or d) snack on train/car/bus journeys. Also they basically just grew up drinking tea all the time instead of fruit juice, sugary drinks etc - things like lemonade or orange squash were a treat, not a daily thing. My mum also says that it baffles her that parents today carry snacks in their bags for babies and toddlers. She says that if you were out with a toddler all day, you'd take a packed lunch for it, but you wouldn't be delving into your bag for things for them to nibble on while you were out doing the shopping with them, apparently.

You've brought back memories for me mentioning rock cakes! My mum used to make them. We never had shop bought cakes beyond perhaps an iced bun from the bakery.

I had a job when young working in the civil service - this was late 90s - we used to have a tea trolley come round in the morning and afternoon - it was great!

I agree with your points. We would sit at the kitchen table for our snacks. It was a sociable time. We didn't watch TV or anything. And yes to tea. Although we had a glass of squash usually after school with our tea when younger. My dad was quite surprised I encountered my young children to drink water rather than tea. When we had fruit juice sometimes at breakfast time it was in a very small glass. I must admit if my DC have a glass of juice it is much bigger. We only ever had fizzy drinks at a birthday party. My teen drinks far too many fizzy drinks!

@PinkSyCo

I’m 51 and don’t remember ever eating snacks at home. Always had a (usually hot) pudding after dinner though. My kids weren’t snackers either.

We always had pudding after dinner too. My DC usually have some fruit and/or yogurt if they want. But they probably only have it a few days a week. I make homemade desserts occasionally so they are a treat to my DC while they were the norm for me everyday.

I am 44 and never had dessert or snacks, apart from Saturdays when I was allowed 10p for pick n mix

Should’ve said, we were really poor so we couldn’t afford anything (although my dad always bought tons of biscuits that only he was allowed). Meals weren’t large either and I remember being hungry a lot

I grew up in the nineties and we definitely had snacks.

During the school day we had a tuck-shop open at morning break and most people bought something - crisps, sweets, chocolate. They sold fruit but I think it was there for decorative purposes

I also went to holiday clubs and we had squash and biscuits around 10am and again around 3-4pm.

After school club ran until six and we were always given toast/biscuits to tide us over until we got home and had a proper meal.

I also have vivid memories of days out in the Lake District that were filled with soggy sandwiches, kendal mint cake, opal fruits and the odd pack of Sunmaid raisins!

My parents were big on healthy eating - wholemeal bread, fruit in lunchboxes, no sweets or crisps, but I still had regular snacks at school and at home on weekends.